Pages

Friday, February 25, 2005

Putting in the last hot type page at the Akron Beacon Journal on Friday, February 6, 1976 are (from left) composing boss Don Baker, printers Red Nestor and Ed Fobean and now retired TV editor John Olesky. Carl "Red" Nestor died November 8, 2004. Olesky provided the photo for the blog, but could not put a date on it. However Russ Musarra saved the mat of the last hot type page he worked on, the 1 star Local News page (B-1) on Friday, Feb. 6, 1976. The spreader was headlined "Goldie leaves for a try at motherhood." The story, by Mike Clary, was about a golden eagle that was being sent from the Akron Children's Zoo to a new home in Indianapolis. Sidebar, also by Clary, was headlined "Zoo director named. """

Why was a partisan hack, using an alias and with no journalism background, given repeatedaccess to daily White House press briefings?

James Guckert, better known by his pen name Jeff Gannon, got press credentials for two years at the White House under his alias, first under the auspices of GOPUSA, then Talon News. He has since been linked to male escorts sites and has refused to deny working as a prostitute

Editor & Publisher reported February 24 that Talon News first lost Gannon as its White House correspondent, then scrubbed all his articles from its web site and then went dark with an amnnoucement it was going off line for a “top-to-bottom” review.

But let Eric Boehklert of Salon.com explain:

When President Bush bypassed dozens of eager reporters from nationally and internationally recognized news outlets and selected Jeff Gannon to pose a question at his Jan. 26 news conference, Bush's recognition bestowed instant credibility on the apparently novice reporter, as well as the little-known conservative organization he worked for at the time, called Talon News. That attention only intensified when Gannon used his nationally televised press conference time to ask Bush a loaded, partisan question -- featuring a manufactured quote that mocked Democrats for being "divorced from reality."

Gannon's star turn quickly piqued the interest of many online commentators, who wondered how an obvious Republican operative had been granted access to daily White House press briefings normally reserved for accredited journalists. Two weeks later, a swarming investigation inside the blogosphere into Gannon and Talon News had produced all sorts of damning revelations about how Talon is connected at the hip to a right-wing activist organization called GOPUSA, how its "news" staff consists largely of volunteer Republican activists with no journalism experience, how Gannon often simply rewrote GOP press releases when filing his Talon dispatches. It also uncovered embarrassing information about Gannon's past as well as his fake identity. When Gannon himself this week confirmed to the Washington Post that his name was a pseudonym, it only added to the sense of a bizarre hoax waiting to be exposed.

Kathy Goforth and Charlie Buffum first called our attention to a New York Times story of Feb 20 by Frank Rich headlined “The White House stages its “Daily Show” and then we came across Rich again in an International Herald-Tribune story on Feb 19 headlined “When real news debunks fake news.” Finally came the E&P news on Feb 24.

Check the Editor & Publisher site or for the full story, go to either of these newspapers:

There are many real, hard-working, seasoned reporters out there spawned by the real Akron Beacon Journal who could comment wisely on this post. Hopefully, a few of them read this blog and will comment.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Jim Toms, manager of Suburban News PublIcations with headquarters and printing plant on north side of Columbus, reports that two former BJ staffers are contributing to pages at Suburban News Publications. Pat Snyder has been writing a regular column called "Balancing Act" for commentary pages for several years now, and Andrea Misko is doing stringer work for a couple of Suburban News papers in nearby Delaware County. “Both are great,” says Toms..

After leaving the ABJ in in early 1981 for the Detroit Free Press, I became assistant features copy desk chief. I was a single parent with a son, Mark, in middle school, so the day hours worked best for me. Eventually I met and married Suzanne Dolezal, a feature writer at the Freep, in May 1984. We had a son, Eric, about 2 years later. When the Freep and News filed for a joint operating agreement I began to seriously look around for a better situation in Knight Ridder because I wasn't sure the Freep would survive if the U.S. Supreme Court got involved in the issue. The Freep had filed as the failing paper and I didn't want to end up in a job fair if all went bad.

Meanwhile, to make myself more marketable, I moved down to the newsroom as deputy news editor (nights) at the behest of Scott Bosley, who was managing editor at the time. Nothing like having friends in high places. In the mid-1989 the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader was looking for a news editor and by then I'd been doing that job in a secondary capacity in Detroit for about 4-5 years. And that's where I've been since Sept. '89. Meanwhile, Suzanne eventually landed a job at UK working public information for the NCI's Cancer Information Service. And Eric is now a freshman at the University of Kentucky on an academic scholarship to study engineering. (Last weekend, for ESPN's College Game Day special here in Lexington, he and his four closest friends with painted in blue and white in the front row only few feet from UK grad/movie actress Ashley Judd.) My oldest, Mark, returned to the Detroit area after graduating from Kent State and has been working in the auto industry managing an assembly-equipment leasing arrangement with Pontiac. His wife, Christa, is a BGSU grad and media buyer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising. They have two children, Jack, who will be 6 in August, and Lindsay, 4. My daughter Britta is a graduate of the Univ. of South Florida and is in partnership with a high school-college friend in a Web-based wedding invitation business. She is married to a Mich. State grad, Marc Spanke, who works for computer chip after-market company. They live in the Tampa-St. Pete area and have two daughters, Halle, 5, and Clare, 1.

I intend to hang it up on Oct. 31 of this year after 37 years with KR. And, yes, I think I'm the oldest journalist in this particular newsroom. A "dinosaur" as we used to fondly call the old hands. Suzanne won't retire for a few more years, but when she does we'll probably move up to the Detroit area to be near the kids. Eric is thinking about auto engineering so he'd likely return to Motown too. And Britta's husband's parents live just north of Detroit. So, for us, it's a natural if we want to be near family -- although temperature-wise it makes absolutely no sense at all. Still, who cares? There are a helluva lot of grand watering holes in the Detroit environs where I can tip a few with the retired Freepers of my decade there. And I'd love to make it to an occasional BJ retirees' luncheon once I'm not working nights, weekend and holidays.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Effective March 1, the Akron Beacon Journal will raise the price of the newspaper by about 15 cents a week for daily and Sunday subscribers. The increase will bring employees’ and retirees’costs to 92 cents a week with the 75 percent discount. Staff members and retirees have been paying about 87 cents a week. [From Hot Type]

After being laid off as county government reporter only 10 months after leaving his Daytona Beach News-Journal job in 2001 and bringing his family to Akron where he worked at the Beacon Journal, Mark Schlueb fired off an email to Knight-Ridder CEO Anthony Ridder that became a shot heard 'round the newspaper world. This and the Ann Hill letter are classics among Beacon Journal past, present and retired newsroom employees.

Today, Mark Schlueb is back in Florida working for the Orlando Sentinel. Schlueb won the Orlando Sentinel's annual award for excellence in investigative reporting. Associate managing editor/projects Bob Shaw said: "Mark won primarily for a piece he did about city council and the mayor blatantly violating the spirit of the state's public meetings law. ...Mark found more than 200 instances over six years of essentially private meetings."

As for his email to Ridder, Schlueb said, "I don't understand why a letter I dashed off in 20 minutes has received such attention. I don't think anyone would pay any attention to an autoworker who wrote a nasty letter to his boss, and I'm not sure why this is different.

"The letter started showing up the first week of my new job. An AME here (at the Orlando Sentinel) -- another K-R expatriate -- received it, with a note asking if he'd ever heard of me. 'Heard of him? I just hired him!' It was a tad tense for a little while, as my new co-workers tried to gauge my sanity. But everyone here has been very supportive.”

For the record, Schlueb never got a reply from Ridder.

For those who want to offer him belated attaboys, Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5417.

The letter that a lot of us probably wished we had written:

Dear Mr. Ridder,

I wanted to write and tell you what a fine time I've had working for the Akron Beacon Journal. (That's a newspaper your company owns in Northeast Ohio.) I've only worked here since last June, but I've had an opportunity to uncover plenty of great stories, and put them into what I consider the best newspaper in Ohio. (Ohio is a state in the Midwest.) All the while, I've been able to work with the most talented group of writers and reporters with whom I've ever had the privilege to associate. It's been very inspiring -- in fact, my desk is only about 20 feet from John S. Knight's old typewriter, which is now kept behind glass.

Of course, you're cutting these fine people off at the knees, you asshole. How do you expect the dedicated and loyal reporters at the Beacon Journal to keep putting out a quality paper when you're eliminating nearly a quarter of the reporting staff? You faceless corporate hacks take a break from your golf game long enough to scream that circulation must stay up, but then you order arbitrary budget cuts that force the elimination of entire sections of the Sunday paper. And when that's not enough, you order layoffs that eliminate the very employees who have helped keep circulation from falling. Seriously, the kid who changes the oil in my car could run Knight Ridder with more foresight than you.

I brought my wife and two children to Akron -- a thousand miles from our native Florida, where I had a secure job and other offers -- to work at the Beacon Journal. The editors here were able to attract me with the excellent reputation they and John S. Knight had built over a period of decades. In just a few months, you've managed to wreck everything they built. How many top-notch reporters will choose to move to Akron, if they would face the prospect of working at an understaffed, demoralized newspaper?

Maybe I should have seen this coming. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Knight Ridder budget cuts gutted the Miami Herald. Remember what happened then? There was a mass exodus of talented reporters, and the Herald is a shadow of its former self. Don't worry about me; I'll land on my feet. I don't regret coming here, even though I've been laid off now. In fact, my only regret is that you haven't come to visit the Beacon Journal. I would have loved to piss on your shoes.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Today’s “Memorable Story” isn’t really that memorable and was not even written by a Beacon Journal type. But, hey, today is President’s Day and I thought you might want to see how Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Cadiz Junction in Harrison County, OH, on February 14, 1861 was covered.

Besides my late father was born in Cadiz Junction and was once a railroad telegraph operator. Cadiz Junction was the spot where a train from Cadiz, OH, met the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Folks from Cadiz who wanted to see the President paid 25 cents for the round trip from Cadiz to Cadiz Junction.

As usual, just click on the headline to see first a brief announcement in the Cadiz Demorat Sentinel and then a longer story in the Cadiz Republican. Neither made Page 1. They put the news on page 3 back then. Oh, and do not be too critical of the writing.

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Art Krummel, retired Beacon Journal artist, sent the blog five of his paintings for our first-ever showing of art. Just click on the headline above and enter the display of art. Click on the images to enlarge them and use the arrows to browse back and forth.

The paintings include a spot on Siesta Key Beach at Sarasota, FL, a Christmas still life which Char asked him to paint, a painting of a photo taken by Ken Love and two of the four seasons at Maca Park in Talllmadge. Art provided info for the captions.

But wait!

Don’t you want to know what he and Charlene Nevada have been doing lately? Char’s busy at work so let Art tell you:

“I've been very busy painting nearly every day. I'm trying to get enough work to set up during the Art in the Circle art show this summer. I hope to generate some commissions of pet portraits or kids 'n pets. I also have a couple paintings of family heirlooms: one done for my nephew and his family of all of their treasures; the other is a painting I did of my kids' shoes that I kept from birth until they left the homestead.”

“We have been travelling a bit with cruises in recent years to southern Carribean, Hawaii, western Carribean. We had a kind of reunion beach vacation last summer with the Mezgers, the Reynolds, Marshionne/Mastrionni family. We all vacationed in Garden City just south of Myrtle Beach for years. We all had young kids and we had a great time. Well now the youngest kids are in high school and college. All the kids came except for my daughter Beth and her hubby. It was really fun getting together with them again after a lapse of about 10 years.

“We have a return trip to Hawaii planned for September.. We're staying on land this time with 5 days in Waikiki, and 5 days in Lahiana on Maui. I love Hawaii and am really looking forward to this trip.”

The MacDonalds (John and Georgia) are alive and well in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Up until Christmas Eve, John was still working for the Hartford Courant covering health care issues on the Hill and Supreme Court cases of interest to Connecticut. Then the Chicago Tribune, which owns the Courant and other former LA Times papers, began cutting back on staff of its papers' Washington bureaus. He opted for a buyout rather than return to Hartford. After a week's vacation, he began a new job as director of media relations at a D.C. think tank, Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which deals with issues he covered as a reporter, so it was a good fit. His new e-mail address: macdonald@ebri.org

Georgia is still with The Gazette Newspapers, a string of weeklies owned by the Washington Post and circulated in much of Maryland. She left the news end of things five years ago and has handled the editorial pages for 17 community weeklies and one statewide edition of the papers.She also has returned to her first love, art, and has even won some prizes.Her e-mail address: gmacdonald@gazette.net

Ted Walls had his knee replaced recently. In 1989 he had problems with that same knee and had some work done on it. When I visited him at home at that time his kitchen table looked like a pharmacy. Well now he has a new knee and is recovering nicely. I wish you well, Ted.

Our “Story of the Week,” not a regular feature of the blog, is by the Mad Shopper herself, Mary Ethridge. It was on page 1 of the business section on Saturday, February 12. You might have guessed, at this time of the year, the headline was “Valentine’s gives glow to retailers.”

Here’s the lead:

What price can you put on love?

Get a load of this: $75-$100 for a dozen red roses, $7.99 for a glittery card and $18.25 for a red thong as big as a rubber band around a piece of broccoli.

Hey, don't forget the gift bag for $3.95 and the accompanying tissue paper at 10 cents a sheet.

Valentine's Day is Monday, if you need reminding, sweetheart.

And while your smitten heart goes pitapat, retailers' registers go ca-ca-ching. It is the third-biggest holiday for retailers and brightens up a traditionally slow period for the industry.

And a little later in the story, she reports:

The survery shows the average consumer plans to spend $97.27 on Valentine's Day, down slightly from $99.24 last year. However, 61.8 percent of consumers plan to celebrate the holiday, up from 59.8 percent a year ago. In all, 2005 Valentine's Day spending is expected to reach $13.19 billion.

And a little later

Nevertheless, consumers still plan to spend the majority of their Valentine's Day budget on their sweetheart, with the average person planning to spend $58.85 of the $97.27 total on their significant other or spouse, the federation said.

Although Valentine's Day spending last year was propelled by young adults, spending this year will be spurred by middle-aged consumers. Consumers aged 45 to 54 will spend $118.11 each this year, more than any other age category and considerably higher than the $88.96 the group spent last year

As usual, If you must read the entire story, click on the headline

Mary Ethridge can be reached at 330-996-3545 or methridge@thebeaconjournal.com

The majority attendees cheated by bringing wives but still were ahead of reporter types.. As punishment, we decided not to print any editorial type photos. We also skipped Gene McClellan and Carl Nelson because they are always present. Bob Pell as usual furnished us photos of everyone, but using some of those faces so often is giving the blog a bad reputation for ugly mugs. So, we chose two photos with only new--although old-- faces. It was the first visit in a long time for Joe Catalano and Dick Gresock is another who was not at the last lunch. Pell actually only shot one of the photos here. The other one was taken with his camera by an old editor, Tom Moore.

It is being kept under wraps for now, but there will be a big announcement here before the next lunch on a prize for everyone who attends. Will that get attendance above 14?Probably not.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Dick McBane's book, A Fine-Looking Lot of Ball-Tossers: The Remarkable Akrons of 1881, is now in print and available for immediate shipment for $28.50. Check it out at the McFarland Publishing Co. web site at www.mcfarlandpub.com Or you probably can order it from a local book store with the ISBN number listed below

The Akron club's accumulation of talented ballplayers and its success against the best opposition of the time set it apart from the general development of 19th century baseball. Like many of the independent baseball teams that proliferated in the 1870s and 1880s, it was formed as a joint stock company by prominent citizens and businessmen. Its talent led it to be raided out of existence. Of the 20 men who played with the Akrons during 1881, 14 played major league ball in subsequent seasons. Most prominent were Hall of Famer Bid McPhee and Tony Mullane.

This work traces the development and play of the team from its formation in 1879 through its great 1881 season and on. Biographical profiles of the players, with personal and professional details, are interspersed throughout. Appendices include the 1881 calendar of scores and 40 box scores (and compiled statistics) for the 1881 season, as well as the box score of the Akrons victory over the Chicagos of Cap Anson in 1880.

McBane, a former reporter and editorial writer for the Beacon Journal, lives in Lilburn, Georgia. He is a member of Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). His e-mail addres is RLMcBane@aol.com

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

A gathering in the back room of Jack Horner's in 1974
for the wake of the old State Desk which was disbanded.
In front is Pam McCarthy, now a teacher in Stark County.
In the back is Cathy Strong who now lives in New Zealand.
Caught in the middle (from let) are Kathy Goforth, now in
New York City, Kathy Fraze who is still working as BJ
Features Editor, John Olesky, then assistant State Desk
editor retired since 1996, and the late Jan Clark. Pat
Englehart was State Editor. He died Oct 29, 1995 in Ocala,
FL, at the age of 70.

From Page A1 on Ash Wednesday, Feb 9:The Akron Beacon Journal clock tower needs a face-lift. Everybody knows we can’t turn back time, but for the next few weeks, you won’t see the time and temperature atop the building at 44 E. Exchange St. The shutoff is necessary for the safety of workers. With any luck, you’ll see temperatures rsing when you see tdhe display again.

And from Hot Type:
From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, the Akron Beacon Journal will be without electrical power while Ohio Edison makes repairs to the main electrical switch. Please turn off computers and other electrical equipment and remove food from refrigerators.

Job Openings:Among those listed by Hot Type are “Sports Reporter to cover Browns”

Bonnie Bolden is traveling for diversity:Bonnie Bolden, newsroom recruiter, addresses diverse leadership development from the perspective of news coverage. She regularly travels the circuit of job fairs on Ohio college campuses in search of promising minority journalists, some of whom end up as interns for 10-week stints at the newspaper.

In the fall, she attended the Spirit of Diversity, a job fair sponsored by the Detroit Newspapers. She has attended conventions held by the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Asian-American Journalism Association. Last year, she traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Unity Convention, an annual gathering of organizations representing journalists of color.

"I've been fortunate to work for companies that value minority staffing," she said, adding that she is always on the lookout for affordable training and development opportunities offered through professional organizations, such as fellowships and minority scholarships.

She also is "immersed in diversity" as a member of LeadDIVERSITY, a Cleveland-based program focused on minority staffing that runs from October through June.Her classmates come from a wide range of industries for training on bringing diversity to the workplace.

According to a recent annual survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Akron Beacon Journal had 19.8 percent minority employment in the newsroom, said Bolden. Based on that survey, a study by the Knight Foundation showed the newspaper had the highest diversity index (the ratio of diversity in the newsroom to the population of the market) of any newspaper its size in the country, said Bolden. The Aron Beacon Journal also is distinguished in having the highest diversity index ranking of any KR newspaper.

"The goal is to reach parity with your circulation area," Bolden said, noting that the newspaper's circulation area comprises 11.7 percent minority.

Maintaining a diverse newsroom is an important part of credibility, said Bolden. "You cannot be credible there are segments of your community not represented
on your staff or not covered in the newspaper." According to the most recent census, minorities make up about one-third of the U.S. population, she said.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Not all memorable stories posted here are by retired and forgotten reporters. Beacon reporter Tracy Wheeler on Feb 2 proved hat even a simple obituary about a memorable doctor can be "a thing of beauty and a joy forever."

The first three graphs tell it all:

The one thing that patients remember most about Dr. Carl E. Krill was the round, mirrored reflector he wore on his forehead, long after most doctors had relegated the devices to antique status.But among fellow doctors, the most memorable thing was Dr. Krill's ability to enter an examining room and walk out a few minutes later with a quick and accurate diagnosis, without a battery of tests.Dr. Krill, a pediatrician, died Jan. 27 at the age of 101. After practicing medicine in the Akron area for more than 60 years, he retired in 1996, just two weeks short of his 93rd birthday.

The story cried out for the memorable photo which was unfortunately forgotten in the rush of things (that's news biz). The photo above did not appear with Tracy's story which was printed on page B1 on Wednesday, February 2, 2005. The story should have been printed on page A1.

Another reason it was good enough for A1 is explained by Tracy a few graphs later:

In 1941, Dr. Krill's handling of a local polio case brought him national fame. He didn't discover a cure, but, rather, a cause, after five Kenmore siblings had contracted bulbar polio, the most deadly form of the disease. When Dr. Krill learned that all five children had become ill about a week after having their tonsils removed, he saw a link. Removing the tonsils, which are part of the body's immune system, had allowed the dormant polio virus to take over. Without the tonsillectomies, those children never would have suffered more than flulike symptoms. Instead, three of the five died. The finding made national news publications, including the New York Times. It was published in the esteemed Journal of the American Medical Association. It even reached the White House, which sent the Kenmore family a letter of ``heartfelt sympathy'' from Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had been stricken by polio at age 39. Dr. Krill's finding put the brakes on tonsillectomies, especially in the summer, when the polio virus was most active.

Click on the headline above to read Tracy's Memorable Story.

Bloggers lament: It might have been better to just print Tracy's story out front and provide the link instead to my poor observations (that's the blog biz).

Ted Walls hopefully will be home this weekend after rehabilitaion at Edwin Shaw Hospital. Ted, a retired BJ photographer, had a knee replacement on January 25 at Akron General Medical Center. and went to Edwin Shaw. He had to go back to the hospital briefly for some kind of cellulite problem, but then returned. He is in therapy during the day so it is best to call in the evening.
Edwin Shaw tel: 330-784-1271 Ext. 5308

Saturday, February 05, 2005

NAPLES, FLA. - Gordon C. Dix, a retired Ohio newspaper publisher and a former owner of Dix Communications, died Friday at age 90.

He died at his home from complications of a stroke.

Dix and brothers Albert and twins Robert and Ray built their family media business, which now includes seven daily newspapers in Ohio and Kentucky. The company also owns seven radio stations in Maryland, Florida and Ohio.

Their grandfather and father started the family business with a community newspaper in Wooster. Dix and his brothers sold their business to family members in 1985.

Gordon Dix was publisher of the (Martins Ferry) Times Leader and the (Defiance) Crescent-News. He was named president of the Defiance Publishing Co. in 1977.

He began work in the advertising department at the Daily Record in Wooster.

His son Earl Stevens Dix, who died in 1982, also was a publisher of the Crescent-News.

Survivors include his wife, Katharine; three children; and a brother, Dr. J. Harlan Dix.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday at the Presbyterian Church of Naples.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Since KR has changed some health care coverage, although the Guild retirees apparently are not affected, it would be wise to double-check any health care payments statements you get from United Health Care, and to make sure your prescription coverage co-pays are the same. If you see drastic differences, you probably should notify UHC and, getting no satisfaction there, notify the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Guild in Cleveland (BJ merged with Cleveland years ago) at Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild
1729 Superior Avenue East
Cleveland, OH 44114
Phone
216-621-6792
Ask for Rollie Dreussi or Executive Secretary Mark Davis.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

The blog rated a brief mention in the briefs on page 2 of The Guild Reporter for January 14, 2005. Here it is:

Former president
starts retiree blog

Harry Liggett, president of Local 7 in Akron in the early 1970s, has started a web log for retired and former Beacon Journal Guild employees. Liggett started the blog last July and writes that is has had more than 100 posts (the blog counter is stuck on 52) and has had more than a thousand visitors. Check it out at www.bjretirees.blogspot.com

Blog Note: There were 92 posts in 2004 and so far this year there have been 34 posts and as of today 1,725 visitors.. And it is not just for Guild retirees.